Monday, March 21, 2005

I acquired a list of parties which have applied for funding from the Electoral Commission today. I was just wanting to check whether the Alliance had remembered to apply (they have - meaning that they're going to try and contest the election, I guess), but the list of smaller, non-Parliamentary parties has proved a great distraction. There's not one, but two republican parties ("The Republic of New Zealand" and the "Republic Aotearoa New Zealand Party", a party promoting a smaller Parliament ("The 99 MP Party"), and one promoting family values (the "New Zealand Family Rights Protection party"). Probably on the left are the "Labour Coalition Party" and the "Beneficiaries Political Party", and on the right are the National Front and (probably) the "New Zealand Patriot Party". There's also a "Cook Islands Maori Party of Aotearoa", though as only 1.3% of New Zealanders identify as Cook Islanders, they're probably going to run into threshold issues. Noticibly absent from the running are the smaller Maori parties. Mana Motuhake, Mana Maori and Te Tawharau have all disappeared, their supporters and activists presumably vaccumed up by the Maori Party.

Higher up the political foodchain, DestinyNZ, Christian Heritage, the Alliance and the Democrats have all applied for funding - as have the LibertariaNZ. yes, that's right, or local libertarian party, who normally disapproe of such things, is sucking on the teat of the state. I wonder how they justify that one?

David: who knows? Not even Google has been able to shed any light on who they are. I don't even know if they're contesting the list...
Posted by
Idiot/Savant
:
3/21/2005 11:27:00 PM

Incidentially neither of the two republican parties are aligned or I suspect even know to The Republican Movement of NZ. Not that they have to be, but still wonder who is involved with them.
Posted by
David Farrar
:
3/22/2005 06:36:00 AM

Span: not unless he's one of the above. There are only two parties which I haven't mentioned above: the NZ Family Rights Protection Party (which I thik has been mentioned on the news recently), and the Aotearoa New Zealand Equal Values Party, which withdrew its application.
Posted by
Idiot/Savant
:
3/22/2005 07:59:00 AM

Is there anything to ensure that parties are for real and aren't a scam to obtain the election funds for personal aggrandisement.
Posted by
Rich
:
3/22/2005 09:00:00 AM